- by THS:UKI Manager
- 1 September 2026
- Corporate Member News
CMS GeoScience undertook the large-scale geotechnical survey campaign across over 130 locations, within a very busy port environment. The project delivery required careful planning to account for commercial vessel traffic, port operations, restricted access, and other activities taking place concurrently in the surrounding area. On top of this, the survey campaign required strong communication and coordination between several stakeholders, including the client, port representatives, CMS GeoScience’s project team and vessel crews, technical personnel and laboratory providers.
For this large-scale survey, we mobilised our vessel, the MV FlatHolm, with our high-performance vibrocorer (HPVC), equipped with sensors to measure penetration, seabed elevation and tilt, as well as our 0.1m2 Hamon Grab. We completed all the scheduled investigation locations, collected and managed samples for chemical and physical lab analysis and field data, coordinated laboratory testing, and the final reporting.
A consistent project team was maintained throughout, which provided continuity of technical knowledge and assisted with communication. The team regularly reviewed the project progress, operational constraints and upcoming activities with the client so that the programme could be adjusted without compromising safety, data quality or port operations.
With the survey area situated within the Thames Estuary, it is subject to strong tidal currents, challenging weather conditions and a high volume of commercial vessel traffic. Our team overcame these with uncompromising communication between parties on an ongoing basis, logging under three hours delay across the entire project.
We worked with partner companies to produce navigational risk assessments and UXO desktop assessments, implementing our UXO encounters briefing and procedures throughout the project.
Prior to the geotechnical survey being carried out, we conducted a multibeam survey to determine the seabed level at each of the geotechnical sample locations. The subsequent geotechnical work involved the collection of 6 boreholes, 114 vibrocores and 16 surface grab samples. These samples were collected for sediment characterisation, geotechnical testing and contaminant testing.
Samples were taken from within the Thames Estuary to The Sunk offshore, revealing a diverse range of geological strata that were logged and reported from the vessel daily by our team of marine geologists. Units of archaeological interest were reported to the client during sampling and preserved for archaeological consultants to observe once the cores returned to the laboratory.
Over 1200 samples for characterisation and chemical testing were taken during the project, requiring coordination with the laboratory and couriers to maintain operational efficiency. The team maintained excellent awareness of cross contamination and storage protocols, following CMS GeoScience’s sampling procedures and ensuring all chemical samples remained frozen, in line with recommendations.
We are proud that all survey locations were completed successfully, with no safety incidents or near misses, ahead of schedule, despite all constraints of working in a large, busy port with changeable conditions. Laboratory testing is currently being completed, with the final report scheduled for delivery later this year.
The work has provided the client with the reliable ground investigation data required to support informed planning and engineering decisions.
This project demonstrates CMS GeoScience’s capability to deliver large-scale, multidisciplinary marine geotechnical investigations in complex and operationally constrained environments. Additionally, it shows our ability to provide specialist equipment and experienced, in-house personnel, manage interfaces and changing operational requirements, maintain high safety and quality standards, and deliver an extensive programme efficiently and successfully.